Health clinic faces issues

There's good news and bad news for the Cowlitz Family Health Center Clinic in Cathlamet.

Making a quarterly report to the Wahkiakum County board of commissioners on Tuesday, health center Executive Director Dian Cooper acknowledged the clinic's staff turnover is a problem for patients.

However, the health center is doing well financially, she said, and center managers are expanding services by opening more clinics in Cowlitz County and by connecting with TriWest Health Alliance for services for veterans.

Connecting with TriWest will allow the center's clinics to serve veterans in the veterans' home communities, Cooper said.

The connection isn't perfect, she said, for services must be approved before being provided. The patients often have more than one problem or issue that needs attention, and pre-authorization covers only the first issue, she said.

"I think it's a pretty shabby way to treat the people who have served our country," she said.

However, the center's policy is to see veterans for all issues, even if there is no pre-authorization.

If payment becomes an issue, she said, they'll follow their processes. "I can over ride our process and adjust the bill," she said.

Commissioners agreed and said that if Cooper sent them a letter outlining the problems, they'd lobby federal representatives for improvements.

Cooper said the center will open two more clinics in Cowlitz County. One will be in Castle Rock where PeaceHealth has closed a clinic, and the other will be in the former Lower Columbia Women's Clinic in Longview.

Staffing clinics with providers continues to be a challenge, Cooper said.

"It's really hard to compete with the big hospitals in Portland and Seattle," she said. "We are reviewing our provider compensation schedule. We're using a headhunter, too, which is something we never used to do."

The Cathlamet clinic is currently staffed with temporary providers while the center tries to recruit permanent providers.

"I want to assure you that even though we're opening two new clinics, we're still focusing efforts down here to find permanent providers," Cooper said.